From George Jefferson to 'Amen': Remembering Sherman Hemsley

Still from All in the Family(1968-1979) starring Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker, and Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson. Jefferson would later be spun off into his own sitcom.

Publicity photo of actors Isabel Sanford, Sherman Hemsley and Mike Evans promoting the upcoming January 18, 1975 premiere of the television series The Jeffersons for a press release dated December 20, 1974. Hemsley was more than 20 years younger than his TV wife, and just 11 years older than Evans when the three starred in the long-running TV series. (Photo: CBS Television Network, commons license)

The cast of the TV sitcom ‘The Jeffersons’ circa 1977. From left to right: Berlinda Tolbert, Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, Franklin Cover, Roxie Roker and Marla Gibbs (seated). George Jefferson was ranked #44 in TV Guide’s list of the “50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time” in their June 20, 2004 issue. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

The cast of the hit NBC series Amen, which ran from 1986 to 1991

Sherman Hemsley in a photo dated December 3, 1999, played George Jefferson on four different TV series and in a film: the TV series “All in the Family” (1971), “The Jeffersons (1975), “E/R” (1984) and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (1990), and the film “Jane Austen’s Mafia!” (1998). (Photo from the archives of www.lukeisback.com, by Commons license.)

‘The Jefferson’s’ Marla Gibbs and Sherman Hemsley appear at the First Official TV Land Convention at the Burbank Airport Hilton on August 17, 2003 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Sherman Hemsley and “The Jeffersons” co-star, actress Isabel Sanford pose at the 2nd Annual TV Land Awards held at The Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California on March 7, 2004. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)

Sherman Hemsley had a long, varied career, from a role in the Broadway musical Purlie in 1972, to the role as Archie Bunker’s irascible black neighbor in All in the Family, which spawned a starring role in his own ground-breaking sitcom, The Jeffersons. We remember the comedic actor, who TMZ reports has died at age 74.